Bag closure



May 27, 1952 F. AHLBURG BAG CLOSURE Filed March 20, 1950 HTTORA/E Y5Patented May 27, 1952 UNITED STATES. 983a.- V

I Free. ate sa et :de Hagga sic-3 1 9?? 2gGlai ns. (01.: 1 50-41) It isanother object.oftheinventismiioprovide a bag closureof!theIabovecharacter.whichis adapted for use in conjunction withprese'nt day draw-string bags which are used in marketing operations,and which constitutes an improvement over thepresent common practice oftying a knot in the draw-string to hold' 'the bag closed.

Further objects of the invention will appear from the followingdescriptioninwhich the preferred embodiment has been lset forth indetail in conjunction with the'accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevationalview showing the upper open end of thebagw ith my closure applied tothesame; F

Figure -2 is-a side elevational view of-t he same bag but after-thetightening' of- 'the draw stri-ng;

Figure 3-isan enlarged'planview showiiigmy retaining device inconjunction with the drawstring, and after the string has beentightened;

Figure 4 is a plan view of my draw-string retaining device, with thedraw-string extending through the tunnels of the device;

Figure 5 is a section of the device taken along the line 5-5 of Figure4; and

Figure 6 is a section of the device taken along the line 66 of Figure 4.

In Figures 1 and 2, I have shown the upper end of the bag I0 which ismade of cotton netting and similar to bags such as are now commonly usedfor the marketing of various fruit and vegetables. In the past it hasbeen common to apply a draw-string to the open end of such bags and whenthe bag has been filled at the packing plant the draw-string istightened and then tied. This tying operation requires considerablelabor and, in addition, makes it difficult to open the top of the bag,if, for example, one wishes to remove damaged or spoiled fruit or if onewishes to remove fruit in the event the contents of the bag areoverweight or to add fruit if the contents of the bag are underweight.

A draw-string or cord I I is applied to the bag near the upper open endthereof in the same manner as draw-strings have been applied in the me vThe construction of; the; retaining device I2'is illus tr atedparticularly in" Figures-two G-inelu- "si ve As illustratedi, the device['2 ismadebf a past gr amme'r he a 'a a onequarter inch nie'shconstruction, the cord may" be passed through? every fourth or fifth sixso that the'cord can be-readily drawntight to hold-themouth of the bagclose'd. In atypic'alfl instance the cord is'ofthe' type-made oftwisted-"cotton fiber {which is relatively 'soft in that it, can readilybe lsqueezed-to'a smaller di- For bags u sdYiii' the marketing" of ornges andpotatoesfthe cord may have anormal 1 diameter of about threethirty-seconds of arilinch.

Generally, speaking cords; of this type are 5 impregnated-with pigmentof coloring nia rial inasfnuch as the pigment or coloring pa n amen werew n i 9 r H aiie jihe j h n ags e t e bag :pr viously described.a'ndjaft'er my'retaining dehas been positionedf generally as shown r653and4 strip [B ofsuitablesheet steel nietaL-"the end portions i lfofwhich are bent upon themselves toform generally 'a pair-of cylindricaland;par-

allel tunnels l6. One edge of the strip Iii-forming the end of thetunnels I6 is belled g'enerally asshowm The cord ll extends throughthese tunnels It as illustrated in the drawings, and

the inner diameter of the tunnels I6 is slightly smaller than the normaloutside diameter of the cord ll whereby the cord is squeezed somewhat asit passes through the tunnels IE to provide a frictional retention whileat the same time permitting the device I2 to be slid along the cord byapplied manual force.

Figure 1 illustrates the position of the retaining device l2 before thebag is filled. The device can be applied to the cord H at any timeduring or after the manufacture of the bag but, as previously indicated,it is usually applied before the coloring material or pigment is appliedto the bag H1 and the cord ll.

Upon filling the bag with fruit or vegetables, the loop I I is graspedby one hand of the operator and the device l2 grasped by the other hand.When the device 12 is slid to the position shown in Figures 2 and 3, thecord forms a loop which gathers together the upper end of the bag toeifectively close the same. In this manner the bag is retained in closedposition. Th bell H8 at the one end of the parallel tunnels l6facilitates the sliding of the device I2 to the position shown, in thatthe squeezing of the cord to the 3 smaller diameter to accommodate thesame within the tunnel I6 is facilitated.

Upon release of the device 12, it generally attains th positionillustrated in Figures 2 and 3 due to the friction between the deviceand the cord which is sufiicient to prevent it from slipping along thecord to permit the bag to open. The inherent frictional engagementbetween the device l2 and the cord ll due to squeezing the cord issupplemented by the effect of the engagement between the end wall IQ ofthe device and the portion of the cord immediately adjacent theretowhich has not been squeezed. The nonsliding effect of the device 12further enhanced by the fact that when the device is in the positiongenerally illustrated in Figures 2 and 3, the pull upon the same isalmost at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the tunnel I 6 ratherthan coaxial therewith.

Although the bag is held closed during handling, storage and shipment,if occasion should arise to open the bag as, for example, for thepurpose of removing injured or spoiled articles of fruit or adding orremoving some to attain the proper weight, this may readily be done bysimply pulling outwardly upon the device I! to return it to an openposition.

This movement is resisted not only by the frictional engagement betweenthe interior of the tunnels l6 and the cord ll therewithin, which itwill be recalled is considerably squeezed thereby, but also by theefiect of the abrupt edge IQ of the tunnels 16 at that portion of thedevice remote from the belled edges l8. As has previously been pointedout the coloring pigment in the cord is primarily only upon the surfaceof the cord and as the sharp edge (9 of the device [2 is drawn along thecord, the pigment is scraped and caused to pile up so to speak, therebytending to resist further unloosening sliding movements of the devicel2.

It will be evident from the foregoing that I have provided a devicewhich is extremely simple in construction and operation, which can beused to advantage in the fruit and vegetable packing industry.

I claim:

1. In a bag closure, a draw cord engaging the mouth of the bag, and aretaining device engaging extended portions of the cord, said devicecomprising a single strip of sheet metal having opposite ends thereofbent upon themselves to form a pair of substantially cylindrical andparallel tunnels through which portions of the cord extend, theeifective inner diameter of said tunnels being less than the normaloutside diameter of the cord whereby said device frictionally retainsthe cord, the ends of said tunnels adjacent the bag being slightlybelled to prevent undue abrasion of the cord, and the other ends of saidtunnels having an abrupt edge to retard slippage of the device in adirection away from said bag.

2. In a bag closure, a draw cord engaging the mouth of the bag, and aretaining device frictionally engaging extended portions of the cord,said device comprising a single strip of sheet metal having oppositeends thereof bent upon themselves to form substantially cylindrical andparallel tunnels through which portions of the cord extend, theeffective diameter of said tunnels being less than the normal diameterof the cord whereby said device frictionally retains the cord, slidingof said device along the extended portions of the cord in one directionserving to gather together the mouth of the bag to close the same, theends of said tunnels adjacent the bag being slightly belled and the endsof the tunnel remote from the bag being abrupt to thereby retardslippage of the device along the extended portions of the cord in theother direction.

FRANK AHLBURG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 209,233 Cox Oct. 22, 1878 222,649Batchelder Dec. 16, 1879 1,143,924 Paradise Aug. 3, 1915 1,631,464Brooks June 7, 1927 1,921,777 Ridgers Aug. 8, 1933 2,480,543 Brooks Aug.30, 1949

